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Is Full-Fat Dairy Healthy? Why You Should Be Drinking Full-Fat Milk and Eating Lots of Butter

Full-fat dairy went out of fashion for the same reason butter & red meat were villainized, but saturated fats aren't the villains we've been led to believe.

Ah, the French know their fats. When my husband worked with a Frenchman, he reminisced about this time of year in France:  “Fall is the best time of year because the food is so wonderful: the fish are fatter, the cream is plentiful, and the vegetables being harvested are some of my favorites.” Yep, he wanted more fat in his fish!

We’ve been talking about good fats and bad fats and how to find them, but milk is one area where we Americans simply cut the fat. I’m challenging you now to consider full-fat dairy for you and your family.

If you’ve read any good historical fiction from the era of the 1800s or so, you might have come across stories of mothers who used to sell the cream from their family cow’s milk. Their children were always the sickly ones because they were stuck with skim milk while the family’s pocketbook grew fatter because of the premium people were willing to pay for the cream. In most places, skim milk was fed to the pigs. This was simply common knowledge – skim milk was a byproduct.

When we started getting our milk from a farm, it brought up a lot of interesting conversation with my relatives…with and without my presence! (Ever heard the phrase “My ears were burning?”)  My grandpa warned us that when the cows went out on pasture, they could get into garlic or something and make the milk taste awful. (This is true.)  My in-laws worried that we’d get sick and wondered, “Why not just buy it at the store?”  (This is not a big concern, and a post for another day.)

Full-fat dairy went out of fashion for the same reason butter & red meat were villainized, but saturated fats aren't the villains we've been led to believe.

My dad, who is old enough that he rode on the back of a milk truck as a young boy, reminisced about working out on his uncle’s farm. He remembers separating the cream from the milk using a machine and taking it to other folks who then made butter with it. I had to ask him what they did with the skim milk. Without missing a beat, he said that skim milk was fed to the pigs. It was a matter of course. Nobody wanted the skim milk for their families.

And now? We often pay a premium for low-fat and fat-free novelties. Hmph.

The Issue with Dairy Fat

It’s saturated, mostly.

Since saturated fat is often linked to heart disease, that means dairy fats are out of fashion for the same reason butter and red meat are on the chopping block (or off of it, for health’s sake).

My Issues with Low-Fat Dairy

It used to be an industry standard to add powdered nonfat milk to reduced fat and skim milk, and I have emails from two milk companies and a professor at Michigan State assuring me that powdered milk is no longer added to skim or low-fat milk.

When I used to make skim milk homemade yogurt, I always added nonfat dry milk to the mix, both to add protein and thicken it up. This is what I was taught by the health books I was reading at the time.

Learn more: What kind of milk should I buy? Milk terms deciphered!

What’s Wrong with Powdered Milk?

“When they remove the fat to make reduced fat milks, they replace the fat with powdered milk concentrate, which is formed by high temperature spray drying. All reduced-fat milks have dried skim milk added to give them body, although this ingredient is not usually on the labels. The result is a very high-protein, lowfat product. Because the body uses up many nutrients to assimilate protein—especially the nutrients contained in animal fat—such doctored milk can quickly lead to nutrient deficiencies.”

And…

“A note on the production of skim milk powder: liquid milk is forced through a tiny hole at high pressure, and then blown out into the air. This causes a lot of nitrates to form and the cholesterol in the milk is oxidized. …You do not want to eat oxidized cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol contributes to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, to atherosclerosis. So when you drink reduced-fat milk thinking that it will help you avoid heart disease, you are actually consuming oxidized cholesterol, which initiates the process of heart disease.”

(My note:  nitrates are pegged as carcinogens, cancer-causing agents.)

Source:  Weston A. Price Foundation

Oxidized Cholesterol and Heart Disease

milk jar

Someone asked me once after I explained all this if skim milk would be exempt. Because it has no fat, how can it have cholesterol? I found my answer:

Ed Blonz of Chicago’s Daily Herald confirms that

  1. Powdered milk does contain oxidized cholesterol
  2. Skim milk also contains cholesterol, even though it doesn’t have any fat
  3. Skim and low-fat milks have powdered milk added to them
  4. Oxidized cholesterol is dangerous to your health

He also claims that the small amounts of oxidized cholesterol in skim milk should not have much of an impact on your health.

Note:  Do see the comments for some contradiction and confirmation from an academic, farm-raised reader.

This 2003 study shows that oxidized cholesterol is real, a concern for heart disease and perhaps cancer, that it is formed in processed dairy powder, and that a small amount of it is in your supermarket milk. The authors recommend eating lots of antioxidants to combat this. (My interpretation:  “Drink milk, but eat blueberries too.”)

Wiki also says that powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol and that the free radicals may cause arterial plaque.

How Worried Should We Be about Oxidized Cholesterol?

Full-fat dairy went out of fashion for the same reason butter & red meat were villainized, but saturated fats aren't the villains we've been led to believe.

We probably (definitely?) consume oxidized foods all the time, unfortunately. I recently learned that when foods turn brown (picture a cut apple or banana), it is a sign of oxidation. Charred, grilled meat has a big problem with oxidation, as would the nice toast I just ate with raw honey on top. Anytime damaged cells come in contact with air, oxidation happens. (That’s why I cut my lettuce with a special lettuce knife, and grill red meat with dark beer.)  When we eat cooked foods, chances are we’re consuming some oxidized free radicals.

So is the oxidized cholesterol in milk something to be concerned about? As usual, I’m going to buck the system and play the “better safe than sorry” card while sharing all the information with you. This way you, too, can stand in front of the milk at the store and think:  “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! I don’t know what to do!!!!!!” make an informed decision.

Learn more: The Real Story on Homogenization, Powdered Milk, Skim Milk and Oxidized Cholesterol

An Unfortunate Hazard of Dairy Fat: Homogenization

“Milk straight from the cow contains cream, which rises to the top. Homogenization is a process that breaks up the fat globules and evenly distributes them throughout the milk so that they do not rise. This process unnaturally increases the surface area of fat exposing it to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage. Homogenization has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis.”

Source:  Weston A. Price Foundation

Some say that homogenization is one of the top three causes of heart disease, which is a big deal for me because that little evil runs in my husband’s family in a big way. I could buy a milk (Moo-ville brand – what a great name!) that is unhomogenized for about $4 a gallon to make homemade yogurt. Other than the homogenization gig, though, it doesn’t have a lot of other benefits over conventional milk for $1.99 (it’s not organic, still at least partly grain-fed). I struggle with paying double.

I already pay double for so many other things, from eggs and our raw milk for drinking to organic lettuce. Most weeks, I just grab a gallon of store-brand milk and offer up the homogenization with a prayer for my husband’s health and safety. We love our yogurt, and I am banking on the hope that the benefits of the probiotics and the lack of powdered milk at least balance out the evils of homogenization. If I was a yogurt purchaser, Stonyfield Farms has a yogurt with a creamline. This is probably a nice, safe choice for probiotics and dairy!

UPDATE:  I have a new method for my yogurt-making milk. See all the updates here.

BIG UPDATE:  That email I mentioned above from the MSU professor also addresses homogenization. Again, there is little to fear: homogenization happens without allowing the fat globules to touch air. Within 10-20 seconds, a new protective membrane forms around the fat globules. There should be no oxidation fears with homogenized milk, either.

Why I Don’t Go for Organic Milk

Full-fat dairy went out of fashion for the same reason butter & red meat were villainized, but saturated fats aren't the villains we've been led to believe.

Most organic milk (if it travels cross country or is in a cardboard container) is “ultra-high-temperature pasteurized (UHT)”, which means it’s been heated to 200 degrees instead of down somewhere around 150 for regular pasteurization. It could sit on your pantry shelf. Not only does that diminish the nutrients and make the food truly a “dead” one, but that’s just too much for me. Milk on a shelf. No, thank you. That’s definitely NOT natural! Photo from bexa

Our Family’s Story

I bet you’re wondering how our family’s weight is doing since we switched to full-fat dairy. It’s okay, you can ask if we’re fatter. We consume a fair amount of dairy products, so this is a very good question. In fact, I hope you’re curious because I’m about to tell you!

No one’s gained a pound.

I was still losing baby weight when we made the switch, and I still have that last nagging 5 pounds to go. Many people say that never leaves until baby is finished nursing, and Lovey Girl has no interest in quitting.  But all my pants fit and I feel good.

My husband is slimmer and weighs less now than any time in our marriage. He started working out more seriously in June, but he didn’t gain any weight in the six months of full-fat dairy prior to that, either. Other than adding fat to our diets, we haven’t made any other changes that would change our total caloric intake, and he still drinks his pop like he always has.

My kids are so skinny they’re going to disappear. I have a certain amount of guilt about the two years I subjected my son’s little body to skim milk and dry-milk-enhanced skim yogurt. 🙁  I just have to offer that one up and rest in the fact that I did the best I knew then, and I’m doing the best I know now.

An Apology and Two Reassurances

Powdered milk, oxidized cholesterol, homogenization, UHT shelf-stable milk...so much you didn’t know you didn’t want to know!

*Sigh*

I’m so sorry to do this to you. The more I learn, the more I wish I was ignorant…but I don’t want to be cancer-ridden, either!

  1. For those of you “in the know” already, I know there is much more to say on the subject of milk. I’m just talking fat here, after all:  It’s a Fat Full Fall. I can talk about pasteurization, enzymes, cultured dairy, hormones, and what cows eat later.
  2. For those of you for whom this information is all new and you’re thinking, “Now what do I do with the gallon of skim milk in my fridge!?!” or “What will I buy on the next shopping trip???” don’t despair. You’re alive and healthy today, and you will be tomorrow, unless the Lord has other plans for you. Say your nighttime prayers. Say your morning prayers. Say your “What milk do I buy??” prayers. And then accept Baby Steps, pat yourself on the back for learning something new and being willing to make a change so that you’re a little healthier than you were yesterday. And always trust that God will take care of you, body and soul. Soul first.

If you need some food to make you feel better, try these pumpkin muffins (with healthier upgrades).

How about you? Are you a fat-free/low-fat household? Have you made the switch already (and how did it go)? Does drinking whole milk sound like it’s just something for the 2-and-under crowd?
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

51 thoughts on “Is Full-Fat Dairy Healthy? Why You Should Be Drinking Full-Fat Milk and Eating Lots of Butter”

  1. I live in a very rural area in the middle of Nevada and do not have access to raw or even organic milk. My family and I are big milk drinkers and we buy just plain old whole milk. Would you suggest anything different? Thanks and I love your blog.

    1. Andrea,
      Welcome! That’s a tough one! I know some would say to culture it (yogurt or kefir) before drinking at all, but if you all really like your milk…I don’t know if there’s anything else you can do, you know? If you don’t have options, you don’t have options. 🙁

      Sorry I don’t have any better ideas! Katie

  2. One problem I have is this: “What do I do for food storage?” How can I have a 3 to 6-month or even a year food storage without powdered milk (or even some of the other foods you recommend cutting from our diets)?

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Elizabeth,
      Better late than never on this answer, I hope – here’s all I know about real food prepping and dairy:

      http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2011/06/01/real-food-stockpile-dairy/

      Hope that helps!!
      🙂 Katie

  3. If the rest of your information is as reliable as as your swipe at “high fructose corn sugar”, I’m out of here. Fructose composes half of ordinary table sugar, either cane or beet variety. Too much sugar is not good for one, but to single out fructose as a particular culprit is stupid. Incidentally, I am a chemist; I know whereof I speak on this matter.

  4. Jonathan Summers

    There is an excellent new Wiki article that covers all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenized_Milk_and_Atherosclerosis

    also good is the ebook: “Homogenized Milk and Atherosclerosis – Healing Heart Disease from A to XO,” by Nicholas Sampsidis

  5. Somethings via Facebook

    Yes we do! We have 2 dairy goats and make as much of our dairy products as possible with whole milk!

  6. Good discussion. I’m all for full fat dairy, but I also have an auto immune disease and have heard that dairy fat and red meats, etc. can all cause inflammation. What do you know about this? Are there cases where low fat dairy would be worth it for some people, but not for most? Or is it just bad enough to stay away from regardless (keep drinking whole milk)?

    1. Lauren,
      My husband also has an auto-immune disease (Crohn’s), and if I know one thing about them, it’s that everyone reacts differently. He clearly reacts to gluten, but we don’t think dairy is a problem. Soooo…an elimination diet for yourself is the only way to tell if your system rejects something. Actually, omega-6 fats cause inflammation, like soybean and corn oils (in everything!). Omega 3s fight it. Saturated fats aren’t really pegged in either direction, I don’t think, on inflammation in particular.

      I don’t think the dairy fat will get ya more than the casein or lactose in dairy, so if dairy bugs you, it’s probably time to cut it rather than go skim. I don’t know that you’d get a lot out of milk with just skim – can you do yogurt? If you make homemade, you can incubate longer which gets most of the lactose out (said to be all by 24 hours).

      Let me know if you have any more questions, since auto-immune diseases and inflammation are definitely a subject I’m interested in!
      🙂 Katie

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  8. Kelly the Kitchen Kop

    But even if you DO go through that to make it yourself (which most people don’t and they buy the stuff from the store which also has other weird ingredients and is super processed), that still leaves the fact that soy itself isn’t good for us.

    I have many posts on my site that talk about it and Katie most likely has some here, too. Or just a Google search will work! 🙂

    Once you do the research, if you still choose to drink soy, why not just get the whole milk for your hubs?

    Kelly

    1. The bad thing is that after a visit to the supermarket today I’ve found ALL milk are UHT so from what I’ve read it does not seems like he or me will get much of it (living abroad=less options). Anyway I will take a look at your blog and keep checking to know more about this. Thanks for folowing up 😉

  9. Kelly the Kitchen Kop

    Mesishi,

    I have a simple way to help you decide about real, whole milk vs. soy milk. Which one is less processed? Milk from a cow is just milk, but to get “milk” from a bean, there is a LOT of unnatural processing that has to happen first. The same is true of “meat” made from soybeans.

    Hope that helps!
    Kelly

    1. Thank you Kelly for your reply! The only thing that still keeps me doubting is that I find the process to get soy milk pretty ‘simple’: soak soy beans for several hours and then blend it and pour it. Boil it and let it freshen!

      So, I am still between homemade soy milk vs. whole milk (swear my husband would prefer the second one ;).

      Thanks a lot for replying 😉

  10. UFFFFFF! I found this blog looking information on mineral sunscreen and finally got time to come back for HOURS! (LOVE your site and your APPROACH TO HEALTHY EATING!!!).

    I guess there is no need to say how I feel about all of this (frustrated, no idea on what to do aside from throwing away all bad plastics) but overall I have a BIG concern about the milk thing.

    I have been vegetarian over the last 4 years (thought is healthier and more ecofriendly) and have sort of dragged my husband into it and one of the things he has disliked the most is the change from whole milk to skim milk and then to soy milk (this is where we currently are). After reading all of this info about milk I understand the best to drink (animal products) is whole milk directly from the farm if possible 😉 (he also reacted sort of like your husband’s family when I mentioned that) BUT I REALLY WONDER if whole milk is still better than Soy Milk and I should think about going back to at least UT whole milk (for my husband’s sake) or would be equally good to keep on the soy milk. Do you have info on that?

    I have not get to the grains yet so I am unsure on whether you already mentioned this but I already have so many tabs open to keep reading that I don’t think I will get there any time soon.

    Thanks for this!!!

    1. Mesishi,
      Looks like Kelly was subscribed to this post and caught your questions before me, and she’s right – soy has many health risks (phyto-estrogens high among them on my list) when not fermented. I don’t know if there’s a way to make the homemade soy milk fermented (and still enjoy drinking it), but personally, that would be the only way I’d go for it. ???

      It’s too bad that you only have access to high-temp pasteurized milk. Perhaps no milk or coconut milk would be two other options?

      Also, before you go insane or start throwing things out the window…I know how you feel. Just take it one thing at a time, and rest in the fact that your eating is one step healthier than the day before. If you need to keep having soy milk to feel some sense of normalcy, do it for a while as you read more about it and make other important changes as well. Can you find real butter where you are? That’s a nice easy, tasty change to make if you’re using soy products on toast and things as well. Yum!

      Glad to have you here!!!
      🙂 Katie

  11. I just looked at my 1% organic milk from Trader Joe’s, and it indeed had dry milk listed as one of the three ingredients!

  12. Forget now how I linked here but excellent post… I absolutely believe that raw, whole milk from your local dairy is worth every penny. We have a barely survivable food budget and I still purchase local raw milk. (Some things I will not compromise on, and this is one of them – it just means you have to go without other things…)

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  16. Psychic Lunch

    Here’s something I came across in regards to oxidized milk:

    “Mixing of oxidized milk from one farm with non-oxidized milk from other farms in the same bulk truck can result in the oxidation of the whole load of milk.”

    This is from Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives at http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/dairy/cda20s02.html

    1. PL,
      Another bummer in the food world. I’m glad most of my milk comes straight from the farm! 🙂 Thanks for the info —
      Katie

      1. From the link above:
        •Milk is usually not oxidized when first taken from the cow; however, an oxidized flavour can develop within 24 hours during refrigerated storage under conditions which promote the oxidation reaction. In some instances, it may take from 48 to 72 hours to develop following milking.

        This means oxidation starts on the farm, in the bulk tank, while the milk is still raw, or depending on the timeline, if you are getting your milk straight from the farm, in your own fridge even. It looks like propentency for oxidation comes from cow diet, enviroment the milk is stored in & cow genetics.

        •Oxidized milk poses no health risks; however, it presents significant risk to retail sales. Consumer rejection of off-flavoured dairy products can result in temporary to permanent loss of sales to dairy competitors.

        i am not aware of this being a problem in the US.

          1. could be, but i’d guess it was probably dietary. if your cow munched a weed(s) in their pasture…or even onion tops.

            in college we had to taste “off” milk in our animal products class. one of the “off” flavors was onion & another was garlic. ick. not so good.
            .-= tonya´s last blog ..rcwant2be: someone in northern michigan should tweet #snowmobile #trail #conditions =-.

  17. I just found your site and am reading up on the fat full fall now.

    wow… this is the first time I’m really delving into all of this and it’s a little disturbing! So a few questions:
    -for families who don’t drink milk, what do you give your kids instead? Our 7 year old currently drinks milk with each of her meals and it’s seemed like a good way to get some protein and calcium into her… what do you substitute?
    -our 3 year old is diagnosed as lactose intolerant (though I suspect it’s something different as he also can’t tolerate yogurt or anything) so he drinks soy, which also seems like not a super natural substitute.
    -our 6 month old is still all on mama’s milk and will remain on that for as long as we can! But I can’t make enough for the whole fam 😉

    Thanks for any ideas!

    1. Jane,
      Thanks for joining us! 🙂

      You ask great (and difficult) questions…
      1. I wouldn’t use soy milk – never milked a bean, so I don’t trust it! 😉 Soy is pretty controversial right now, so I’d rather stay away from it, plus it’s a new phenomenon to have so MUCH of it in our diets. If the soy is for protein, there are other more traditional sources. If it’s just to have something to put on his cereal, you’d have to get creative or have alternate breakfasts to avoid the soy, if you decide it’s no good.
      2. I know folks who just choose not to drink milk – they get their calcium either from other dairy sources or things like homemade bone broth, certain vegetables, etc. Protein from natural sources like meat and beans. Try this link for foods with certain minerals: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/10/13/super-foods-break-down-part-one-whats-in-there/ For beverages, just serve water, or there are alternative beverages in the “real food” world that I haven’t really delved into. I’ve tried water kefir, which is interesting: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/15/is-water-kefir-as-good-as-soda-pop/
      3. Some people who cannot tolerate store milk can handle “raw” or “fresh” milk, which means it’s not pasteurized and the enzymes that can help the baby calf (and you) digest it are still present (they are killed in the pasteurization process).
      4. Love the comment on mama’s milk! Good for you!

      Remember – you don’t have to make a zillion changes at once. Say a prayer about it, prioritize and do one thing at a time. There’s always more to learn!
      🙂 Katie

  18. I read such a cool quote about raw milk the other day! But I can’t remember where. Probably in The Good Fat Cookbook. Anyway, the author points out how many people get sick every year in the U.S. from WATER – and how rare it is to get sick from raw milk, by comparison. That was a point I’d never considered (and we drink raw milk).

    One option I considered, before we had access to raw milk, was to purchase organic skim milk and organic cream and mix them. It would still be pasteurized, but that would get around the homogenization, for the most part. My husband and I worked out the percentages necessary to approximate whole milk; let me see if I can find them.
    .-= Rachel R.´s last blog ..Quotable – housework =-.

    1. Rachel,
      I just read about that on Keeper of the Home’s blog and used it today for yogurt – it’s 3.5 cups skim milk and 5 Tbs cream. I found that organic, store-brand skim milk plus a point of non-organic cream would be more than another share of raw milk thought! I went with non-organic. Katie

  19. Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home

    Phew! There’s a whole lot of info here. I need to look into some of those links above in the comments. Definitely need to learn more about the oxidized cholesterol. I’m lucky, though, that in Canada it doesn’t seem to be the same standardized thing to put milk powder into skim milk (which I only buy for making yogurt, and then I add cream to make it full fat- I’m all about full-fat dairy!).

    After putting up my post about skim milk and cream, how incredibly stoked was I to discover that I can purchase un-homogenized, organic (non UHT) milk from a local dairy for about the same price as organic milk in the regular stores??? I’m so excited! Whohoo! That seems to be the best option I’ve found yet (aside from the $$$ raw milk we buy for drinking).

    Milk is such a difficult issue, isn’t it? I’m so thankful for all the discussion we’ve got going about it. It doesn’t necessarily clear up all the issues right away, but it’s good to get the issues out there and talk through them and sort out what are the best options for working with what’s available to us.

    You’re right, Katie, that ultimately we leave it up to the Lord and trust Him with our health. Thanks, girl!
    .-= Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home´s last blog ..2 Year Blogiversary Celebration: What’s New and a Giveaway! =-.

    1. Stephanie,
      That sounds like the perfect option; I wish I could bump into something like that in my stores! I’m really glad you posted the skim milk/cream recipe though, even though you won’t need it. I do! I’ve not seen something like that but love the idea. Compromise is alright with me.

      Milk IS a difficult issue – some people just don’t drink it, and I understand that, too!
      Thanks for popping over!
      Katie

  20. So, I still don’t know what to buy!

    In a nutshell, please tell me what to buy. My accessible stores are Kroger, Albertsons, HEB/Central Market, Wal-Mart, and Target.

    Thanks!

    1. Sugar Mommy,
      Here’s the best I can offer you:
      When you buy dairy products (cheese, sour cream, etc) only buy the real thing, no low-fat or fat-free.
      Milk is trickier.
      In my opinion, your best bet is an unhomogenized whole milk, but sometimes that is cost-prohibitive. I don’t know what your stores carry, so you’ll have to look into it yourself. Is HEB a health foods store? Start there if it is. April’s comment above about the organic, low-temp pasteurized milk is an example of the “perfect” store choice for milk, but hard to find. If your only choices are regular old milk, some families choose to drink no milk. For cooking and yogurt, I think the next thing I’m going to try is a mixture of skim milk and cream found here: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2009/10/raw-milk-substitute.html

      I wish there was an easy answer, but there’s not really one other than to go straight to the cow!

      I hope this breakdown helped clear things up a little bit – thank you for the question!
      Katie

  21. Kelly the Kitchen Kop

    The main reason I’m “against” homogenization is because it’s so unnatural – in nature the cream rises to the top of the milk. In homogenization, it’s shaken with SUCH force, and so denatured, that the cream stays all mixed in with the rest of the milk.
    .-= Kelly the Kitchen Kop´s last blog ..10-Day “Detox”, Healthy Fats, Crazy Passions, and my friend, Megan =-.

  22. Local Nourishment

    I’m not up on all the science, I’m still working on a lot of it. But I know three things for certain. 1) Hubby is lactose intolerant, unless the milk is raw, whole milk from Jersey cows. 2) Daughter is allergic to dairy, unless the milk is raw, whole milk from Jersey cows. 3) Raw, whole milk tastes a WHOLE lot better than the alternatives.

    That’s enough reason for me, science or no!
    .-= Local Nourishment´s last blog ..What’s Cooking? Community Supported Kitchens =-.

    1. I doubt your husband & daughter are truly, clinically lactose intolerant.

      All milk has lactose or it wouldn’t be milk. I don’t think there’s any significant difference in lactose between a jersey cow vs. any other breed or grassfed vs. any other diet. I’ll look up the data for you.
      .-= tonya´s last blog ..rcwant2be: Went to bed way early last night. Whoa. =-.

  23. Also on the Westin Price website is an article by Mary Enig in which she explains at length that the theory of homogenization causing heart disease is disproven. http://www.realmilk.com/homogenization.html

    She goes into a lot more detail than the article that you linked to.

    That being said, Mary Enig is not in favor of homogenization, but doesn’t really go into why.

    I just made yogurt with non-homogenized milk from grass fed cows & it came out much thicker than yogurt I made with homogenized milk. So I will continue doing that.

  24. one more ( a nice 2008 review article, so combines a lot of the current scientific articles into one): Effects of Dairy Fats within Different Foods on Plasma Lipids

    http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/27/6/735S

    PS: if you can’t access any of these, Katie, & would like to, let me know & I will send you a pdf. I have access via work.
    .-= tonya´s last blog ..rcwant2be: Patents are confusing. Whoa. =-.

    1. Phew! Tonya, girl, you’re keeping me hopping! I wish I had time to read all this info, but I guess if I’m going to post on research, I’d better make sure I’m accurate. I would like to see the last article, and I couldn’t get access.

      Does the research review of Tholstrup 2006 also mean that drinking whole milk vs. skim milk doesn’t increase your risk of heart disease? That alone is ground-breaking, because the docs are always telling people to get to skim and low-fat dairy for their heart health.

      I like that you show some evidence that organic milk isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And thank you, too, for saying that you don’t advocate drinking skim milk!

      Bottom line on oxidized cholesterol in skim milk, according to your research then, is that it’s negligible (but present) at best? Is there more danger then (as far as ox. chol. goes) to drinking 1 and 2% milk?

      You’re getting me on the Parmesan. That’s my personal Monday Mission now – buy real Parm. Sigh. One more thing to do, but I’m already shredding (almost 100%) my own regular cheese, so I might as well do the Parm too! I’ll still use what I have though – the little bit can’t kill us (hopefully).

      Thanks for all your challenges! You’re writing a guest post for me someday, girl. 🙂
      Katie

  25. on homogenization:

    Does homogenization affect the human health properties of cow’s milk? – http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6VHY-4JKHP78-1-F&_cdi=6079&_user=500342&_orig=browse&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2006&_sk=999829991&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkWb&_valck=1&md5=3dd63a4154e66c80d1745c4dbf2d2fe4&ie=/sdarticle.pdf

    The
    amount of absorbed cholesterol via dairy products consumed
    daily only represents 15% of the daily recommended
    cholesterol intake and the beneficial role of milk fat has
    been highlighted in an in-depth review by Berner (1993b).

    In
    a careful review, Tholstrup (2006) concludes that there is no
    strong evidence that dairy products (i.e. including homogenized
    milk) increase the risk of coronary heart disease in
    healthy men of all ages or young and middle-aged healthy
    women.

    & here’s Tholstrup 2006 – http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/2/169

  26. I think i’m going to make multiple posts in order to keep myself straight on this post. Too many things i want to talk about.

    first, Dr Blonz’s newspaper article…It would be a greater risk for those who don’t have a healthful diet, and also for those who are already on the road toward chronic disease. These are the reasons why I have no problem with fresh eggs but do not encourage eating dried eggs, and why it is better to grate fresh cheese than purchase commercially grated cheese that’s been sitting around for a while. Both these are higher-fat products with higher levels of cholesterol.

    The cholesterol in dried nonfat milk can become oxidized, but there is not much there to be at risk. When you “protein fortify” skim or 2 percent, the total cholesterol stays the same. Checking the U.S. Department of Agriculture database at tinyurl.com/36uag, we find that a cup of nonprotein-fortified skim milk contains 8.25 grams of protein and 5 milligrams of cholesterol. A cup of protein-fortified skim contains 9.74 grams of protein, but the same 5 milligrams of cholesterol. A cup of 2 percent milk will contain 20 milligrams of cholesterol whether it is the regular or protein-fortified version. There may be small differences with other milk types, but overall, the concern about oxidized cholesterol from protein-fortified milk is a nonissue.

    I’m certainly not advocating drinking skim milk here. bleck.

    1. note that he points out that pre grated cheese is a source of oxided chloresterol too. i’ve already asked why you used green can parm vs. the real deal. in fact, he notes that it’s a higher fat product with more chloresterol, therefore more oxided chloresterol.

    2. 5 mgs of chloresterol in either version of skim milk. Are you asserting that your conglomeration of information from the internet (where anyone can publish anything) should outweigh the professional opinion of a PhD in nutrition science?

    This is my favorite organic milk article: “Organic milk: Are the benefits worth the cost? Price can be twice as much, but research doesn’t show added advantage”
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14458802
    .-= tonya´s last blog ..rcwant2be: Patents are confusing. Whoa. =-.

    1. Tonya,

      My sources aren’t all Internet sources, by the way. The quotes from the WAPF are often verbatim from the book Nourishing Traditions, and notice that I do point out that the amount of ox. chol. in skim milk is not very much. You make a great point about the cheese…
      Katie

  27. Also, here is a link to where you can find their milk in your area: http://www.farmerscreamery.com/

  28. If you live in the midwest and have access to a HyVee, we love their store brand organic milk! It is actually from Kalona Organics (http://www.kalonaorganics.com/our_milk.html), but sold under the HyVee label. It is organic, NOT homogenized, and it is VAT pasteurized, which means it is pasteurized at the lowest allowable temperature. (The website says it is half the temp of UHT pasteurization, and 30 degrees lower than regular pasteurization.) I don’t have a HyVee receipt near me, so I can’t remember the exact price, but I want to say it is actually a little less than the other organic milks they sell. We have not yet made the switch to raw milk (partly because of budget, partly because we’re afraid of it going bad before we use it all), but this is the closest thing we can get to raw milk at the store. I’m not that good at remembering to shake it up to distribute the cream, but my husband loves it because he gets little pieces of cream in his milk!

    1. That sounds like the best “store” option I’ve heard of – thank you sooooo much for sharing!

    2. K @ Prudent and Practical

      April, Thank you for this! Although I’ve bought it just a couple times, I’ve tried to veer away from HyVee brand organic because, well, it was store brand. All of their products say “Distributed by Hy-Vee Inc.” without saying WHERE it actually came from. I’m so excited to go grocery shopping tomorrow!!!
      .-= K @ Prudent and Practical´s last blog ..Crockpot Spicy Peanut Chicken =-.

      1. Want to know where any milk (in the US) or dairy product comes from? Go to: http://whereismymilkfrom.com/ and type in the xx-xxxx code from the carton. It’s surprising how many store brands actually come from a local dairy!

    3. K @ Prudent and Practical

      And Kalona Organics is wonderful ~ I love their sour cream!
      .-= K @ Prudent and Practical´s last blog ..Crockpot Spicy Peanut Chicken =-.

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